Round 2! FIGHT!
We’ve had a blast hanging out with the ASTRO Family this summer and we’re just getting started. Our latest adventure took us deep into the Fighting Game Community, where for the first time ever audio support was provided at every station for CEO (Community Effort Orlando) and EVO (Evolution Championship Series.)
Take a closer look at the FGC through our Tournament Photo Galleries and new EVO 2016 Montage:
The Fighting Game Community
The FGC is on the rise and recently so is their need for improved equipment. Audio has mostly been an afterthought to fighting game pros because they don’t need voice communication when playing 1v1, nor do they need a sense of direction to locate their enemies like a first person shooter game would. However, there are some situations where audio cues are important. For example, a medium punch & strong punch inflict different degrees of damage to your opponent. In some scenarios the animations appear identical for a both punches, but create two different sounds. The only way to tell the difference between the two punches is the sound each punch makes. Sure, competitors can view their health meter to see the level of damage inflicted by said punch, but the fastest way to know is from direct audio cues, and in the FGC every millisecond counts. Missing a single frame could spell disaster.
Lately however, audio has become more common place with fighting game pros for several reasons. First, live streaming and video creation has become increasingly popular as a stable source of income for professional gamers practicing between tournaments. Having a headset makes hearing your game, recording your voice and engaging with your friends/audience much easier. Second, many large eSports organizations with roots in PC gaming are helping the FGC grow by sponsoring fighting game pros as well. These eSports organizations often have headset sponsors that require all team members to wear their headsets no matter the game they play. Third, if pros are practicing with a headset at home, they often want to compete in tournaments with the same equipment. Changing a controller or headset before a tournament could easily throw the best gamer off their mark.
In previous years, competitor audio support at tournaments was not as important in the FGC, but both CEO and EVO crushed their 2015 attendance records making for two very loud convention centers. And when a championship is on the line, the last thing a competitor needs is to be distracted by their surroundings. So, realizing how crowded the soundscape would be ASTRO was called in to provide players with the option to use a headset if they wanted. By providing ASTRO Headsets & MixAmps at every station, competitors could easily block out the crowd and focus on their gameplay and the response we got from the community was incredible.
FGC Pro Reactions:
EVO A40 + MixAmp TR:
ASTRO Family
